Whistleblowing for RIE Funding Initiatives

Whistleblowing Channel
Information to be provided
Types of Improprieties

This whistleblowing channel provides a dedicated avenue to report any incidents of potential abuse of grant, fraud or misconduct that involve recipients of NEA administered Research Innovation and Enterprise (RIE) Funding Initiatives (FIs), funded by the National Research Foundation, Singapore (NRF).

To report incidents of potential abuse of grant, fraud or misconduct occurring within NEA or relating directly to NEA’s staff, please report it through NEA’s official whistleblowing platform https://www.nea.gov.sg/corporate-functions/Contact-Us/whistleblowing.

Any person who makes a report in good faith can rest assured that no action will be taken against him/her even if the investigation reveals no wrongdoing. However, firm action will be taken against any person who makes false, malicious or frivolous report, including reporting the matter to the police.

The whistleblowing email address to report any concerns regarding recipients of NEA administered RIE FIs are listed below.

To encourage responsible use of the whistleblowing channel, you should identify yourself and indicate your name and contact details in the report. All disclosures will be treated with utmost confidence and every effort will be made not to reveal your identity to the extent feasible and permissible under the law. In reporting any fraudulent or unethical activity, you shall, to the best of your ability, ensure that the information you provide is accurate. Your report should provide the following information where possible:

a. Description of the fraudulent or unethical activity;
b. Name(s) of person(s)/institution/company(ies) allegedly involved;
c. Name of Funding Initiative and/or Project [including Project ID], where applicable;
d. Date, time and location of incident (including multiple occurrences);
e. Frequency of occurrence of the incident;
f. Value of any money or asset involved;
g. Supporting documents, evidence (e.g. Photos, videos, documents), if any; and
h. Any other information that may substantiate the concern.

Possible improprieties include but are not limited to the following:

Fraud
This generally relates to the use of deception or misrepresentation to obtain an unjust advantage. It can also involve cheating, kickbacks, forgery or theft. Corrupt conduct is deliberate or intentional wrongdoing, not negligent or a mistake. It can take many forms including seeking, obtaining, offering secret commissions, bribery, bribery, theft, embezzlement, forgery, falsification or fraudulent alteration of documents and submission of fictitious documents.

Questionable Practices
Broadly, this refers to deliberate breach or circumvention of internal policies, such as Government Instruction Manuals (IMs), Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and internal staff policies. This involves all forms of research misconduct, including mis-use of research funding, misrepresentation of eligibility, manipulation of the research process or wilfully misrepresenting its outcomes, plagiarism and other wrongdoings such as violation of regulations and failure to comply with applicable ethical codes, misuse of human research subjects, conflict of interest, etc.